A visa to Guam will be required for a significant number of foreigners planning to visit this most beautiful corner of the Earth. Are Russians among those who need a visa to travel to an exotic island? Or is visa-free entry available to citizens of the Russian Federation? You will learn about this from our article.
Guam is a special territory
The official name of the region is Guam Territory. This is an island in the western Pacific Ocean, which has the status of an unincorporated organized territory of the United States. That is, Guam is not part of the United States of America, but is their possession.
Map of Guam with major cities and bays
Tourism plays a critical role in the economy of the Pacific island. 90% of foreigners come to Guam from Japan. Guests from the Land of the Rising Sun are attracted by delightful sandy beaches, water activities and exploration of the underwater world, monuments of ancient history and the Second World War. All this is interesting for Russian travelers as well. So do they need a visa for Guam? Let's find out!
visa-free archipelago
The United States, which owns Guam, has introduced visa-free access to the island for Russians. A significant event took place in January 2012.
It is worth noting that Guam is the largest and southernmost island of the Marianas archipelago. Previously, tourists from the Russian Federation have already received the opportunity to visit other islands of the archipelago without a visa. So, it is allowed to stay in Saipan, Rota and Tinian without a visa for 1.5 months. Well, for Guam, until 2012, an American visa was required.
Mariana Islands Map Now free entry is available for Russian citizens throughout the Mariana Archipelago. But "visa-free", as usual, has several reservations. A visitor arriving in the region on a preferential basis must satisfy a number of conditions. Guam has quite serious requirements for "visa-free" guests.
The nuances of a visa-free visit to the island for Russian citizens
Those wishing to come to Guam without a visa must:
It's important to know! Those who arrived under the "visa-free" in no case should get a job in Guam or go to study.
Documentation for "visa-free"
Under the above conditions, a visa to Guam for Russians is not needed. However, travelers will still have to prepare a number of papers. When entering the Pacific island, guests from the Russian Federation present:
All documents are submitted during the passage of immigration (passport) control. Without these papers, you will not be able to get to Guam without a visa.
What are entry forms?
Forms I-736 and I-94 must be completed by all overseas visitors to Guam. Official forms will be issued on board the airliner. It is impossible to find documents in advance on the Internet, print and fill out. The immigration officer simply will not accept them.
Form I-94 Please note that forms are only issued on aircraft of companies that have signed an I-760 agreement. These are, for example, Delta, Lufthansa and Northwest. If your carrier does not issue I-736 and I-94, or you want to prepare the paperwork in advance, you can get the necessary forms from the US missions in the Russian Federation. Only such documents, and not printouts from the Internet, can be accepted at the entrance to the island.
Forms must be completed in English. Information is indicated in block letters in legible handwriting. The bottom field of the I-736 is dated and signed.
Form I-94 is also signed. The information above in the form is duplicated at the bottom of the document. At the border checkpoint, the lower part of the form will be torn off and put into the passport. This sheet will testify to the status of the arrived person in Guam. You can't lose it. Before flying home, the sheet is handed over to the immigration officer.
Form I-94 On a note! Separate forms are submitted for each trip participant over 14 years of age. For a minor, the forms are signed by a parent, guardian or other adult accompanying the young citizen.
When is a visa required?
Do I need a visa for Guam if a foreigner plans to visit the Pacific Territory for non-tourist or private purposes? For example, for employment or education. Or in the case when a tourist voyage or business visit lasts longer than 45 days? Yes, in such situations, a visa document is required.
Any visa to Guam is a US visa. It is issued in American diplomatic missions and strictly according to the rules established by the United States. If a trip to the island requires a visa, you will have to obtain an American entry paper corresponding to the purpose of the visit:
- B1/B2 for business and leisure travel;
- one of the types of work visa;
- F-visa for students, etc.
Usually, Russians do not request such documents just for the sake of traveling to Guam. Especially after 2012, when the Pacific island became visa-free for the Russian Federation.
By the 21st century, there were almost no corners on the planet that were inaccessible to Russian citizens. Our compatriots apply for visas and go to the most exotic countries in the world. A number of states even introduce a visa-free regime for tourists. Recently, avid travelers are wondering if a visa is needed for Guam. After all, this area is attractive in many ways.
Just a few years ago, a visa was required to visit Guam. Now it is allowed to visit this exotic territory without an entry document. Of course, the guest must meet certain conditions.
Guam on the map
Guam is the name of the southernmost and largest island in the Marianas archipelago. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and belongs to the United States, although it is not part of them. Such territories are called organized unincorporated.
Previously, tourists from the Russian Federation freely visited the northern islands of the Mariana Archipelago. In 2009, Rota, Saipan and Tinian introduced free entry with a stay of 1.5 months. Traveling to Guam required a US visa.
Since 2012, the United States has canceled visas for Russians to Guam. By decision of Washington, a visa-free regime was introduced on the island. True, the privilege operates with serious reservations.
Guam without a visa
A visa-free voyage around the island is available subject to the mandatory fulfillment of a number of requirements:
- Citizenship of the Russian Federation.
- All entrants, including infants, have their own passport. Criteria that the document meets:
- With machine-readable code on the main page.
- Expiration date - plus 2 months after the end of the tour.
- The maximum period of stay on the island is 45 days (counted from the date of entry).
Sample Completion of Form I-736
- Purpose of the trip:
- Tourism.
- Private visit (including business).
- The visitor submits:
- Or an invitation from the hotel with a room reservation.
- Or an invitation from a ground tour operator.
- You must have an air ticket with you:
- Both ends.
- Non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
- The ticket indicates the confirmed day of departure to your home country.
- A tourist fills out forms to enter Guam.
- Visa-free admission does not provide for employment and study.
- You are only allowed to stay in Guam and/or the Northern Mariana Islands and travel between them. It is strictly forbidden to visit other American territories without a visa.
- Entry into the territory of the Mariana Islands is carried out only through authorized carriers operating direct flights.
Thus, the list of documents required to visit the Pacific island includes:
- International passport.
- Round-trip ticket with a fixed return date. Air tickets with an open date are not accepted.
- Hotel reservation or tour operator invitation.
- Entry forms.
Papers are submitted at the passage of passport control.
Filling out documents
Form I-94
Entry forms are issued on board the aircraft. Papers printed online cannot be prefilled. The passport control officer only accepts official forms. Alternatively, it is allowed to take them in advance at the US consulate or embassy. Citizens fill out:
Questions must be answered in English. The data is entered legibly, in printed Latin letters. At the bottom of Form I-736 is a signature and the current date.
In the lower field I-94, the information above in the form is duplicated. When passing through immigration control, the lower part of the questionnaire is torn off and put into the traveler's passport. This card indicates the status of a foreigner on the island. You can't lose her. The sheet will need to be handed over to the immigration officer before flying home.
Completed forms must be signed and presented upon arrival at immigration. Children aged 14 and over submit separate forms. Documents are signed by the parent, guardian or adult accompanying the young traveler.
Customs regulations
When do you need a Guam visa?
If the duration of the trip to Guam exceeds 1.5 months, a visa is required. The document is opened by consulates and the US Embassy in Russia. To apply for an entry permit, you will need a set of papers. Their list is similar to the list of forms, forms and certificates for American visas.
The documents
An applicant for a visa allowing a visit to the island will have to present:
- Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form DS-160:
- The form is completed online at https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/.
- When filling out the form, the applicant uploads their photo.
- A printout of the page confirming the completion of the questionnaire should be submitted to the diplomatic mission.
Printout-confirmation of filling out the form
- International passport:
- With 1 blank sheet.
- The expiration date of the document is plus six months after returning home.
- Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation (copy).
- Certificate of income and property.
- Certificate from the employer.
- Pensioners apply a pension certificate. Students and schoolchildren prepare a certificate from the place of study.
- and a certificate from the sponsor's place of work (for schoolchildren, students and pensioners whose trip is financed by relatives).
- A photocopy of the birth certificate (for a minor child traveling with parents).
- Consent of a parent/parents to the departure of a minor child (if the child goes on tour with only one parent or third party). Additionally, it is necessary to make photocopies of internal passports of persons giving consent to leave.
- Marriage certificate (if any).
- Details of the trip with the route (if necessary).
- Reservation of return tickets and hotel rooms (if necessary).
- An invitation from an island resident (if available).
- Certificate of non-conviction.
- Proof of close ties with Russia as a guarantee of return to your home country (if required). For example:
- Birth certificates of children.
- Property documents.
- Non-refundable consular fee payment ($160).
Guam is attractive for Russian tourists. Its popularity began to grow already in 2012, when visas were cancelled. The local population does everything to make the rest of travelers from the Russian Federation comfortable. Shop signs and street advertising in Russian appeared on the island, and restaurants of national Russian cuisine began to operate.
Russian citizens do not need a visa to visit Guam for up to 45 days. You must have a valid passport and a completed migration card with you. For a longer trip, you need to contact the US Embassy for a visa, since the islands are de facto American possessions. You should also remember that entry into the United States through Guam without a visa is prohibited.
Do Russians need a visa to Guam?
Russians can visit Guam without a visa for up to 45 days, for longer visits you need to obtain an American visa.
Guam Entry Rules
- Funds in excess of $10,000 are subject to declaration.
- 1 carton of cigarettes is allowed on the island, with more they must be certified by the United States.
- Despite the territorial affiliation to the United States, entry into the states without a visa through Guam is prohibited.
Required documents for border crossing
- Forms I-94 and I-734 completed and signed by tourists (issued at the US Consulate or on board flights of airlines flying to the island).
- Return flights with a fixed date of departure.
- Hotel reservation (hotel, apartment, hostel).
- Proof of financial solvency: cash, bank cards, checks.
- Medical insurance.
Crossing the border with children
- Foreign passport of a citizen of Russia.
- Original or copy of the birth certificate with insert or stamp of Russian citizenship (children under 14), translated into English.
- Notarized consent for the child to leave the Russian Federation indicating the country and period of stay (Article 20, Chapter III of the Federal Law No. 114-FZ of August 15, 1996) from parents or guardians, translated into English (for children under 18 years old) in the case of an independent trip or a trip accompanied by third parties).
Visa-free regime for citizens of other countries
A special regime that does not require a visa or permission from the US travel authorization system ESTA, except for Russia, is valid for Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom and Taiwan.
Citizens of the CIS countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) must obtain an American visa to visit the island of Guam.
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